Abstract:
With the continuous expansion of installed wind power capacity and the gradual decommissioning of early wind turbines, the generation of waste wind turbine blades has been increasing rapidly. Wind turbine blades are primarily composed of glass fiber-reinforced resin composites, which are characterized by poor degradability, difficulty in separation, and significant potential for resource utilization. Enhancing their resource value has become an important research direction in the treatment of wind power solid waste. This paper focuses on the high-value utilization of recycled glass fibers (RGF) from waste wind turbine blades, and discusses the effects of different recycling processes on the properties of rGF. For the RGF, various surface modification methods—including silane coupling agent modification, acid/alkali modification, plasma modification, and coating modification—are systematically summarized in terms of their mechanisms and application performance, and their roles in restoring fiber surface activity, improving interfacial bonding performance, and enhancing composite properties are analyzed. Furthermore, the application progress of RGF in fields such as catalytic/adsorptive carriers, composite manufacturing, and construction materials is elaborated. The results indicate that chemical dissolution methods exhibit significant advantages in preserving fiber morphology and mechanical properties, while silane coupling and coating modifications have solid practical foundations for engineering applications in interfacial reinforcement. At present, construction materials and low-to-medium grade composites represent relatively mature application directions, whereas functional carriers (e.g., catalysts and adsorbents) and high-performance composites are promising pathways for future high-value utilization.